Missing shell32.dll

hey all, its too bad my first post here had to be about this but i cant
figure out any way to fix this. i was trying to install a new theme to
my computer and the last thing i had to do was add the browserui.dll,
and shell32.dll file to the system32 folder. well i did that and i
restarted and now at the log in screen i get "this application failed to
start because shell32.dll was not found." and i can log in but after
that i get the error message again and a black screen. just wanted to
know is there anyway i can fix this without having to reinstall vista? i
have lots of thing i havent backed up and im sure i can never find again
on my hdd and i want to be able to keep it if possible. im not sure if i
can find my vista cd now anyway....thanks in advance!


--
Crowder

Excerpts from the MS Knowledge Base.

1. Remove all floppy disks, CDs, and DVDs from your computer, and then
restart your computer.

Click the Start button , click the arrow next to the Lock button , and then
click Restart.

2. Do one of the following:

• If your computer has a single operating system installed, press and hold
the F8 key as your computer restarts. You need to press F8 before the
Windows logo appears. If the Windows logo appears, you will need to try
again by waiting until the Windows logon prompt appears, and then shutting
down and restarting your computer.

3. On the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to highlight the
safe mode option you want, and then press ENTER.

4. Log on to your computer with a user account that has administrator
rights.

When your computer is in safe mode, you'll see the words Safe Mode in the
corners of the display. To exit safe mode, restart your computer and let
Windows start normally.


Open System Restore by clicking the Start button , clicking All Programs,
clicking Accessories, clicking System Tools, and then clicking System
Restore.* If you are prompted for an administrator password or
confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Restore the state of your computer's system to a previous point in time.


--
All the best,
SG

Is your computer system ready for Vista?
https://winqual.microsoft.com/hcl/
Want to keep up with the latest news from MS?
http://news.google.com/nwshp?tab=wn&ned=us&topic=t
Just type in Microsoft

"Crowder" <guest@unknown-email.com> wrote in message
news:b51a2cfc0b3f7a0bad748f8e5328593a@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> hey all, its too bad my first post here had to be about this but i cant
> figure out any way to fix this. i was trying to install a new theme to
> my computer and the last thing i had to do was add the browserui.dll,
> and shell32.dll file to the system32 folder. well i did that and i
> restarted and now at the log in screen i get "this application failed to
> start because shell32.dll was not found." and i can log in but after
> that i get the error message again and a black screen. just wanted to
> know is there anyway i can fix this without having to reinstall vista? i
> have lots of thing i havent backed up and im sure i can never find again
> on my hdd and i want to be able to keep it if possible. im not sure if i
> can find my vista cd now anyway....thanks in advance!
>
>
> --
> Crowder

Hi, I'm having the same problem as original poster but I can not get into OS
to resolve it as you suggested. I can access safe mode with command prompt
and attempted to run rstrui.exe and recieved

"This application has failed to start because SHELL32.dll was not found.
Re-installing the application may fix this problem"

Any ideas on this can be resolved? Its an HP laptop with a recovery
partition, I tried that but unfortunatley I had to recovery points previously
created :\

"SG" wrote:

> Excerpts from the MS Knowledge Base.
>
> 1. Remove all floppy disks, CDs, and DVDs from your computer, and then
> restart your computer.
>
> Click the Start button , click the arrow next to the Lock button , and then
> click Restart.
>
> 2. Do one of the following:
>
> • If your computer has a single operating system installed, press and hold
> the F8 key as your computer restarts. You need to press F8 before the
> Windows logo appears. If the Windows logo appears, you will need to try
> again by waiting until the Windows logon prompt appears, and then shutting
> down and restarting your computer.
>
> 3. On the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to highlight the
> safe mode option you want, and then press ENTER.
>
> 4. Log on to your computer with a user account that has administrator
> rights.
>
> When your computer is in safe mode, you'll see the words Safe Mode in the
> corners of the display. To exit safe mode, restart your computer and let
> Windows start normally.
>
>
> Open System Restore by clicking the Start button , clicking All Programs,
> clicking Accessories, clicking System Tools, and then clicking System
> Restore.* If you are prompted for an administrator password or
> confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
>
> Restore the state of your computer's system to a previous point in time.
>
>
> --
> All the best,
> SG
>
> Is your computer system ready for Vista?
> https://winqual.microsoft.com/hcl/
> Want to keep up with the latest news from MS?
> http://news.google.com/nwshp?tab=wn&ned=us&topic=t
> Just type in Microsoft
>
> "Crowder" <guest@unknown-email.com> wrote in message
> news:b51a2cfc0b3f7a0bad748f8e5328593a@nntp-gateway.com...
> >
> > hey all, its too bad my first post here had to be about this but i cant
> > figure out any way to fix this. i was trying to install a new theme to
> > my computer and the last thing i had to do was add the browserui.dll,
> > and shell32.dll file to the system32 folder. well i did that and i
> > restarted and now at the log in screen i get "this application failed to
> > start because shell32.dll was not found." and i can log in but after
> > that i get the error message again and a black screen. just wanted to
> > know is there anyway i can fix this without having to reinstall vista? i
> > have lots of thing i havent backed up and im sure i can never find again
> > on my hdd and i want to be able to keep it if possible. im not sure if i
> > can find my vista cd now anyway....thanks in advance!
> >
> >
> > --
> > Crowder
>
>